Does a Pitch Deck need an Exit Slide?

Sponsored by

Hey All,

Before jumping into today’s issue of Persuade & Raise, I’m very excited to announce that I’ve been working hard to launch a new referral program. It’s finally here.

Our new referral program will allow you to unlock nearly $2M in savings from 100+ vendors, including AWS, Microsoft, Airtable, Asana, Brex, Notion and many more, when you refer 3 people to this newsletter!

To start getting referrals, click the link below.

Does a Pitch Deck need an Exit Slide?
Read time 1.9 minutes

90% of pitch decks that I see do not have an exit slide. From my data and experience, this is a great thing. Exit slides are not something that you should include in a pre-Series B pitch deck.

Some founders believe that investors want to see how they will turn their shares into cash, which leads them to include a slide about their future exit plans. The only Pro of including an exit slide is that it provides investors with a clear vision of how their investment will become liquid. Aside from this, there are only cons to including this slide in a deck.

Let’s explore why you shouldn’t include this slide.

1. Kills your narrative - Every fairytale ends with “happily ever after” they don’t talk about the arguments the couple will have as they age, the fact that they will inevitably die; the story stops abruptly at the high point of the character’s lives. The same is true for your pitch. You want to finish by talking about all the room for growth, the opportunity, market size, etc. You don’t want to kill that story by talking about acquisitions, IPOs or other liquidation events.

2. Be bought, not sold - The best companies in the world don’t need to seek an acquisition. The moment you start trying to sell yourself, your value instantly diminishes. The companies that sell at the highest price are bought, not sold. They are focused on their growth; exiting isn’t a focus for their management group. Investors know, and your exit slide implies that you have the mindset that will fail to allow you to sell your company for its maximum value.

3. Dedication - It often takes 7-10 years before your company is ready for an acquisition or IPO. If you are already discussing an exit strategy in the early days of a business, then investors will question your dedication to the problem you are solving. Most successful founders are obsessed with the problems their company solves. If you don’t have this mindset, it’s hard to succeed.

Stay up-to-date with AI.

The Rundown is the world’s fastest-growing AI newsletter, with over 500,000+ readers staying up-to-date with the latest AI news, tools, and tutorials.

Our research team spends all day learning what’s new in AI, then distills the most important developments into one free email every morning.

Sign up today.

Are you looking to grow your business? Here is how I can help:

📢 Promote your startup to 2,000+ VCs including investors from a16z, YC, Techstars, Rarebreed, Sequoia and more.

📱 Book a Strategy Call to get 1:1 feedback on your pitch, pitch deck and/or fundraising strategy. (If you need general startup advice, then reply to this email, and I’ll let you know if/how I can help.)

📺 Access FundraiseOS, the ultimate fundraising course with video lessons and practical worksheets helping with everything from deciding how much to raise to understanding a term sheet.

💸 Promote your product or service to 100,000+ entrepreneurs.

🌐 Connect with me on LinkedIn or X (formerly Twitter) to get access to new content about startups, fundraising, venture capital and more every day.

Liam’s Exclusive Partner Discounts:

• Get 20% off any plan (up to $2,400) in savings with Kintsugi, the automated tax platform for startups. 

Onwards and Upwards,

Liam Gill